The Experiment
by SaphireShade
Summary: For the first time he could remember, Aizen was afraid. That thing was neither Shinigami nor Hollow… it was something more. Aizen fell to his knees; truly he was in the presence of a god...
1. Prologue: The Blend

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

XOXOX---

Prologue: The Blend

Sosuke Aizen was one of the few Shinigami who knew of the shinobi world. He also knew that shinobi were the only Shinigami who held memories of their time amongst the living. There was one thing that puzzled him about the shinobi world. They had their own Shinigami.

One night, roughly five years after he had become the captain of the 5th division, he got word of a giant demon attacking cities in the shinobi world. Eager to find out which Shinigami was strong enough to patrol that world, he disappeared for the night, going alone to the world.

He was there on October 10th, when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. It was then he realized why so few Shinigami who knew about the shinobi world. Shinigami went where Hollows attacked. Hollows, for an unknown reason, didn't attack the shinobi world. Aizen found out why.

In a flash of light the monstrous forms of the Kyuubi and Gamabunta disappeared. Only three beings saw what happened next. Behind the form of Namikaze Minato was the Shinigami of the shinobi world.

The sheer amount of reiatsu stopped Aizen from moving. For the first time he could remember, Aizen was afraid. That thing was neither Shinigami nor Hollow… it was something _more_.

With its twin horns and its oddly shaped zanpakuto, he could have easily mistaken it as an Arrancar. The only thing it was missing was a visible hole.

Suddenly its eyes left the struggling form of the Kyuubi and they locked onto him. Aizen fell to his knees; truly he was in the presence of a god.

Then it disappeared, taking the soul of Namikaze Minato and a large chunk of the Kyuubi's soul with it. Aizen took a deep breath before standing. The shinobi below him moved around in confusion, some rushing wounded to the medics while others rushed to the crumpled body of the fourth Hokage.

He smirked as an idea came to his mind. The creature, whatever it had been, seemed to be made up of a blend of chakra and reiatsu. If he could create ten beings with that mix, then maybe he could control this world. He strived for the top, and nothing would stand in his way. Nothing.

XOXOX---

The Shinigami gazed down upon the shinobi world. The shinigami of Seireitei made it feel uneasy, despite the fact that it could have crushed the man instantly. It knew of Sosuke Aizen, it knew what the man would do. The Shinigami smiled. No matter what Aizen did, he would have a counter measure in place, one in the form of a young, blonde haired baby with three whisker-like marks on each cheek.

XOXOX---

Twelve Years Later

Aizen smiled as he finished the last of his ten orb shaped devices. Each device was designed to give a shinobi reiatsu. Five were designed for the power of an Arrancar, two for the power of a Quincy, and three for the power of a Shinigami. He had twelve of Konoha's genin picked out and ready for his little project. Quickly he made two deductions from his list.

'_Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee have to go. Lee doesn't have the chakra necessary for my device to take effect. Neji has much potential but he is not needed hear.' _

"Gin, Kaname. Deliver these tonight," he said. Kaname merely nodded and picked a random five and disappeared. Gin followed suit. "Now, we wait."

XOXOX---

Gin appeared in the house of a blonde boy, who was clutching his brand new leaf headband with a grin on his face. Quickly Gin placed the small device on the boy's nightstand. Just as quickly he left. By morning the device would have fused with the boy and the effects would appear in a few months time.

Unknown to Gin or the blonde boy, as the device attempted to start the process, something leapt from the boy and shattered the device.

XOXOX---

The Shinigami laughed. It had begun.

XOXOX---

A Few Months Later

Uchiha Sasuke was frozen to the ground as a giant snake lunged at him, its fangs ready to tear his body in two.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke couldn't move, there just wasn't enough time!

Then something jumped in between Sasuke and the giant snake. The Uchiha's eyes widened as it was Naruto, with two kunai stuck in the snake to help stop the beast.

"Hey, you alright?" Naruto asked as he raised his head. His appearance had changed, his eyes were red with slits for pupils and his whisker marks were darkened. "Scaredy cat?"

Suddenly the Uzumaki was lifted up to face the grass ninja who slammed her palm into Naruto's chest. Naruto cried out in pain then was thrown over the ninja's shoulder. Sakura threw a kunai that caught Naruto and stuck him to the trunk of a tree.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted, tears streaming down her face. "It's true that unlike you, Naruto is clumsy and can get in the way but… at least he's not a coward! Right?"

'Coward…'

"_Foolish little brother. If you want to kill me then hate, spite, and survive pathetically. Run and run and cling desperately to life!"_

Sasuke felt a surge of chakra around his eyes as his emotions erupted.

"NO!"

Suddenly the air grew heavy and something materialized next to the Uchiha. Without thinking Sasuke grabbed a sword out of the air, simultaneously reaching for a kunai. With a battle cry he lunged forward.

"_Say it."_

Sasuke didn't have time to think as the grass ninja increased her speed and meet his sword with a kunai.

"Say it!"

"Pierce the ground, _Denkiryu_!" Sasuke yelled and the air around him crackled with electricity as the blade became zigzagged like a bolt of lightning. With his sharingan spinning rapidly the Uchiha disappeared to meet his foe in battle.

XOXOX---

Aizen chuckled as a device next to him glowed green, signaling the first one had awoken. "It has begun!"

XOXOX---

Prologue End!

Authors Note: Yo! Yeah, that's right, a new story. I've been toying with this idea since I started _The Eldest Sister _and I'm thinking with summer coming up I can juggle both stories. Though for the next few weeks updates for this one will be fewer than updates for _The Eldest Sister_. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think of my idea. See you next time!


	2. Chapter 1: Sound vs Leaf

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

XOXOX---

Authors Note: Well, I'm glad to see that the prologue went over well! Even though I kinda rushed the end… Anyway enjoy the chapter. Oh, just to mention. I'm going to be using a combination of Japanese and English for the jutsu names. The type it is (ex. Katon) will stay while if the jutsu is original the name will be in English to avoid butchering the Japanese language.

XOXOX---

Chapter 1: Sound vs. Leaf!

Sasuke, if he had the time to, would have marveled at his sword that seemingly appeared out of thin air. After he had spoke the release command the blade had gone zigzagged, like a lightning bolt and every few seconds a trail of blue lightning could be seen traveling along the edges of the blade. The zanpakuto's hilt was completely circular and red in color, with two marks opposite of each other, not unlike Sasuke's own sharingan. Of course, he noticed none of this because if he took the time to, he'd be dead.

With Sasuke's increase in power, came the grass ninja's own. The two were blurs to Sakura, each of them supporting several battle wounds.

'_This power, is incredible! I must have this child!' _the grass ninja thought as _she _was caught in a wire trap. A single bolt of electricity traveled down the wires, causing _her _body to numb.

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled. A stream of fire traveled down each of the wires and collected around the grass ninja's face. _She _screamed in pain before falling limp against a tree.

"Sasuke-kun! You did it!" Sakura yelled. If she wasn't near collapsing from fear she would have punched her fist into the air in triumph.

"Kukukuku."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at the body of the grass ninja in alarm as _she_ began to laugh.

"To be able to use the sharingan so well at this age, and that weapon," the grass ninja threw back _her_ head and laughed. "Just as I thought, I want you!" _she_ lifted her hand to her charred forehead protector and it began to smoke.

Sasuke wobbled slightly from his branch and to steady himself he spun the zanpakuto and stabbed it into the trunk. He leaned heavily on it so his legs wouldn't collapse.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled and leapt onto his branch to help him stand and fight if need be.

Suddenly a massive amount of killing intent froze both of them as the grass ninja moved _her_ hand away from the forehead protector to reveal a musical note. "You really are brothers. I sense power in your eyes that surpasses Itachi."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Who the hell are you?" he yelled out, his face contorting in anger and confusion.

"My name is Orochimaru," suddenly the voice was very much male. It was then that Sasuke realized that the area around the ninja's left eye was strange.

'_Is that a mask?'_

Sasuke had no other chance to think before Orochimaru's head suddenly shot away from his shoulders with a snake-like neck. Two fangs pierced into Sasuke's shoulder and the Uchiha screamed in pain. Orochimaru pulled away from Sasuke. "You will seek me, to seek power."

Sasuke fell to the branch, his hand still holding the hilt of his zanpakuto leaving him in an awkward position but one where he could see Orochimaru sliding into the trunk.

"What did you do to Sasuke-kun?" Sakura screamed.

"I gave him a going away present," Orochimaru smirked evilly before completely disappearing.

Sasuke screamed once more before darkness consumed him.

XOXOX---

Sasuke jumped to his feet with a kunai in his hands. He looked around, startled by his location. He was at the Uchiha clan compound, more specifically his house. Getting even more specific, in the room where Itachi had ended the lives of his parents. In front of him sat a large bird. A hawk… or maybe a falcon… hell he had no idea. The bird, whatever kind it was, merely watched him with… sharingan eyes!

"_Why am I suddenly in my old house?" Sasuke asked out loud. _

"_Because this is your mindscape," the bird said._

"_Figures," Sasuke muttered. The bird laughed._

"_Not amazed that a bird can talk?"_

"_You said mindscape, and anything can happen in a dream," Sasuke said. "So what part of my conscience are you? The part that represents Itachi?"_

"_If the part that represented Itachi was a bird, it would be a raven. I am not a raven," the bird sounded annoyed._

"_Of course you aren't," Sasuke said. He remained silent for a few seconds. "What kind of bird are you?"_

"_An eagle."_

_Sasuke nodded. "Good thing I asked. I thought your were a hawk."_

_The eagle snorted leaving Sasuke to wonder how that was possible._

"_So why are we here and what are you representing?"_

"_I am not representing anything. I AM your zanpakuto, the sword that materialized in the middle of your fight. I am essentially a part of your soul that resides in the sword."_

"_So you're Denkiryu. With that name should you be a dragon?" Sasuke asked._

"_Yes, if names relate to appearance. But my name does not relate to my appearance," Denkiryu began to walk around the room. "You used my Shikai in battle, something truly amazing seeing as it was your first time with me."_

"_Shikai?"_

"_Yes. My zanpakuto form has two releases, the Shikai which you saw today. And a Bankai which you will be trained into unlocking later in the future. But you are hear because there is a seal on your body which is messing with our chakra, but thankfully not our reiatsu… yet."_

"_Reiatsu?"_

"_Spirit power. It is what you will primarily use when wielding me. I will also teach you kido, spells you can use with reatsu," the eagle looked at him, its sharingan eye spinning._

"_Hold on a second. How do you know all this? If you're a part of my soul shouldn't you only have the same knowledge I do?"_

_Denkiryu sighed. "If I could answer that one I would. I don't know how I got any of this knowledge. I just know it. Do you understand?"_

"_Enough to get by," Sasuke admitted._

"_Good. Now as I was saying," the eagle came to rest in the center of the room. "Orochimaru put something on your neck that is messing with our chakra. I say our because I am part of you, your power is my power and the same in reverse."_

_Sasuke nodded to show he was following so far._

"_Now, I can see many benefits from what it is messing with our chakra, the only problem is… I don't think that power is real. I think it will stunt your growth in the long run while in the short run giving you the illusion of more power."_

_Sasuke nodded._

"_I say you should use the benefits while it lasts and get that thing checked out by Kakashi A.S.A.P."_

"_Good idea."_

"_Mean while I'll try to negate some of the bad effects because if it messes with your chakra right now… well that's not good," Denkiryu titled his head as if listening. "You should wake up now, you've been out for a long time. Oh, make sure Naruto gets his stomach checked out as well."_

"_What?"_

_But Sasuke had disappeared from the room and returned to the waking world…_

"Sasuke-kun! You're awake!"

XOXOX---

Minutes Earlier…

Sakura struggled fiercely against the grip of the dark haired sound ninja. The female ninja, named Kin, held Sakura in a vice grip via her hair. "Trying to be a sexy ninja? If you have time to treat your hair you should train! Zaku, kill Sasuke in front of this fangirl. It'll teach her a lesson."

The dark haired male sound ninja smiled madly. "Good idea!"

'_No!' _Sakura struggled violent against the girls grip, earning her a slap. _'I can't move… I'm still getting in the way…' _Tears began to run down Sakura's face. _'I'm always being protected, I can't stand it. This time… I though I have to protect those that are important to me…'_

Zaku took a step towards Sasuke, drawing a kunai as he did.

'In the end, I couldn't do anything…'

She felt something flow through her body but she was too emotionally exhausted to care until…

A sword appeared in mid air in front of her hands blade first. The blade was very wide, at least three times as wide as a normal blade but it was just as thin as well as short. It was maybe two feet or so. A thin pink stripe went down the middle of the blade, ending at a black hilt. The hilt was much like that of a normal sword, but with a guard to prevent the users hands from slipping up into the blade. The sword seemed to call to her.

She grabbed the sword and without any grace swung it behind her, slicing her hair near Kin's grip. Slowly she stood and the air around her shimmered slightly. The three sound ninja felt themselves being pressed down by gravity.

"This power," Dosu whispered in awe.

'I thought my self a good ninja. I said I always liked Sasuke-kun. I lectured Naruto as if I was better than him. But all I did was watch from behind… Naruto, Sasuke, Lee… you all fought to protect me. I want to become like you guys! Everyone, this time…'

Suddenly the pressure disappeared, as did Sakura in a burst of speed that the sound trio could barely track.

"Zankuuha!"

Somehow Sakura managed to get her hands into the seals for a kawarmi, though as to how she did while holding that sword amazed everyone in the clearing. She reappeared above Zaku who chucked a few kunai at her and looked away as if expecting another substitution.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled as she swung the broadside of her sword, full force, into the side of Zaku's head.

Zaku fell to the ground unconscious. Sakura smirked and turned to face the other two…

And found a metal object slamming right into her face. Sakura flew backwards and landed on the ground stunned.

"Kin. Wake Zaku up!" Dosu said and stepped forward. "I'll finish her off."

Sakura swore and tried to stand but her legs wouldn't move. Dosu raised his arm and was about to do whatever attack he had planned when three figures jumped out of the bushes.

"Ino?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura… I won't loose to you! I've already told you that!" Ino stated proudly. "Sakura," Ino said in a softer tone. "Take care of Naruto and Sasuke and leave things to us!"

Sakura nodded.

"Okay! Ino Shika Chou formation! Chouji!" Ino yelled. Chouji nodded and placed his hands in a seal before turning into a giant rolling ball and headed towards the now woken Zaku. Said sound ninja swore and leapt away from Chouji.

Dosu ran straight for Chouji, intent on getting him away from Zaku. Shikamaru jumped forward his hands in his own seal. Suddenly his shadow flew out from under the lazy Nara and connected to Dosu's. Instantly Dosu began to mimic Shikamaru's movements.

"Ino!"

The female blonde nodded and made her own hand seal. Suddenly she went limp, causing Shikamaru to catch her.

Suddenly Kin shuttered before pulling out a kunai. "It's over now! If you take another step I'll kill this girl! Leave your scroll and leave! I'll let her go when we can't feel your chakra anymore!" Kin yelled.

Dosu and Zaku just stared blankly.

"Oh no! Ino, move!" Sakura yelled but it was too late. Zaku had raised his hand with a wicked smile on his face.

"Zankuuha!"

Kin/Ino screamed in pain as the wave slammed her into a tree. She fell to the ground and groaned.

"What the hell! You would attack your own comrades?" Shikamaru asked, appalled.

"You don't get it," Zaku sneered.

"We don't care about this exam. You just care about killing Sasuke," Dosu finished. He chuckled as Shikamaru's shadow disconnected from his own. "So it seems your limit is relatively short and it seems that whatever damage that's done to Kin with happen to that girl. So if we kill Kin, that girl will die."

"Bah. I can't take this anymore," a bored voice sounded from above the clearing. All ninja awake turned to see two leaf ninja in the trees. One was Hyuuga Neji and the other was his teammate Tenten. "Some minor sound nins, bullying these second rate ninja's and declaring victory. You made a mistake."

Suddenly Dosu and Zaku took a step back as Neji's killing intent reached them and the veins around his eyes appeared in a glare. "That freak in the green right there is our teammate. You're going to pay for that!"

Dosu laughed. "If you don't like it then come down here yourself."

Neji hesitated before shaking his head. "No. I won't need to."

"Sasuke-kun, you're awake!" Sakura said in surprise.

The Uchiha stood, Denkiryu in his right hand, with the small black marks from the curse seal surrounding his body in a violet glow. "Sakura, who did that to you?"

XOXOX---

Chapter End!

Authors Note: Whew. I got that out of the way, though a day later than I wanted. I wanted to get a chapter out on my birthday but I could… Anyway, I hoped that cleared up some things about Sasuke's zanpakuto. Sakura's will be explained soon and don't worry Aizen will leave ways for everyone to learn how to use their powers. So, you guys want to start guessing who (since it should be obvious the genin that I chose for this) has what power? Anyway, read and review and see you next time!


	3. Chapter 2: A Little Variation

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

XOXOX---

Authors Note: Okay, some things are going to need to be cleared up here. One of them is that (while this would be revealed soon I'll just do it now to avoid some confusion) Sakura does not have Shinigami powers. She's got Arancar abilities (and her blade looks a lot like Halibel's, just because I ran out of ideas when trying to think of a sword for Sakura, not because of anything else). When I reveal the ones who have the Shinigami powers it'll be extremely obvious. Also (this may piss some people off) Naruto will seem/be underpowered for the first few chapters, at least until the third exam. But he will still become the main character (he's just been knocked out). And, congratulations to Ebony017 for getting ¾ of his guesses for the abilities correct. Anyway, read the chapter and don't forget to check the author's note at the bottom!

Oh, before I forget. Orochimaru never burned Team seven's heaven scroll.

XOXOX---

Chapter 2: A Little Variation

"Firstly, congratulations on passing the second test."

Twenty-one genin stood in a strange kind of arena. Some looked completely rested while some looked like they had just stepped out of a meat-grinder. Sakura, Naruto, and Sakura were some of the few fresh looking teams. After Sasuke had decimated the sound team (who stood on the opposite side of the room, glaring at the Uchiha) they had gained their scroll. With the heaven and earth scrolls they had headed straight towards the tower. Immediately Sasuke and Naruto had been seen to by Kakashi, the jounin sealing up Sasuke's curse mark and unsealing Orochimaru's five-marked seal from Naruto. The two were out of it for about a day before going straight back up to top strength. Both had cocky grins on their face and Sakura couldn't help but feel relieved that they were okay.

Unconsciously Sakura's hand reached for the hilt of the strange sword, which was in a sheath going across her back. Sasuke had told her and Naruto that his sword actually had a personality, she wondered if hers did too.

"You will be fighting one on one matches so from this point on team's do not matter in the exam," a sickly looking man said, pausing for short coughs in between. Sakura blinked in surprise, she hadn't noticed him arrive. "Anyone who wishes to quit may do so now."

Nobody except Kabuto moved to leave and none of the remaining genin even gave him a second look.

"Very well, now the first match will be between…"

Sakura gazed at the giant computer screen and watched names flicker by. She vaguely saw her name flash before it stopped moving.

"Uchiha Sasuke vs. Yamanaka Ino!" the sickly man, Hayate, said. "Will all others please exit to the balacanies."

"Beat her, Sasuke," Naruto said, a big smile on his face. Sasuke nodded. This fight should be easy.

"Hey," Ino said and instantly put on a seductive pose for Sasuke. "Please take it easy on me, Sasuke-kun."

"Fighter's ready?" Hayate asked. Both nodded. "Hajime!"

Sasuke sprinted forward, leaving Denkiryu in its sheath that hung from behind his back at an angle (A/N: Think his current sword sheath in the manga.) his sharingan deactivated. He closed in fast on Ino with his fist ready to punch her and knock her out quickly. "Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Sasuke swore and ducked to his right, away from Ino's sight. He saw the girl slump over and he stopped, a smirk on his face. "It's over."

Suddenly something rough wrapped around Sasuke's leg and swept him across the floor throwing him into the wall of the arena. Then it wrapped further around his body and immobilized the Uchiha. "You fell for it, Sasuke-kun!" Ino squealed in delight. "I know you're a better ninja that me but you lost the second you underestimated me and didn't turn on your sharingan. Now I can't miss!" Ino stood and made a hand seal.

Up on the balcony Sakura stared. "What's with _that_?"

"We don't know," Shikamaru said from next to the members of Team 7. "We woke up yesterday with _it _next to Ino. Not sure how but she's been able to use it pretty well."

Sasuke struggled to escape from the rope holding him down. He attempted to flip himself onto his feet but suddenly something sharp poked him in the back and the rope moved, trapping his legs. Sasuke winced in pain, then he realized that he wasn't being held by a rope. '_It's a whip!'_

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Ino yelled and her body slumped.

Sasuke's sharingan sprang to life and he searched for the chakra signature of Ino's attack getting closer. Instead he could only see the steady stream of chakra running down the length of the whip. He was going to loose if he didn't move!

Suddenly a small burst of chakra came from Denkiryu, loosening the whip enough for Sasuke to roll out of the way of Ino's attack. It missed and Ino stayed slumped. Hayate waited a few minutes and when Ino still did not move he declared Sasuke the winner.

"Yeah!" Sakura shouted. "That's my Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke trudged up the stairs to his team while Asuma used a quickly jutsu to bring Ino from the arena floor.

"Sasuke," Kakashi said, his nose in that damned orange book. "I hope this teaches you never to underestimate your opponent."

Sasuke nodded with a scowl on his face.

"But good job!"

"The next match will be," Hayate paused for effect while the computer finished shifting through the remaining names.

"Nara Shikamaru vs. Tsuchi Kin," Hayate announced.

Shikamaru groaned, "Troublesome. Maybe I should just quit as well."

"Figure it this way," Chouji said as he munched on some chips. "Ino will freak out at you if you don't fight."

Shikamaru sighed. "Fine," then as an afterthought. "Why do I always have to fight girls?"

He didn't say it quietly enough and the female sound ninja heard. "Get down here you coward!"

Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome." And walked, slowly, down the length of the balcony and down the stairs.

"Fighter's ready?" Hayate asked. Both genin nodded. "Hajime!"

The Nara's fight wasn't very eventful with Shikamaru overcoming Kin's genjutsu and then capturing her shadow. Quickly he threw a few shuriken and bent backwards as Kin did the same. Shikamaru dodged while Kin slammed her head on the wall. After being declared the winner Shikamaru trudged back up to the balcony where Team 7 and Team 10 (with the newly awakened Ino) congratulated him.

"I don't understand what the shuriken were for," Naruto said.

"Motivation to bend backwards," Shikamaru replied lazily. Naruto gave a silent "oh" and looked at the computer screen.

"The next match will be between…"

"Haruno Sakura vs. Kinuta Dosu!"

Sakura gulped and began to shake.

"Kick his ass, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said from next to her. She calmed down a bit. It was enough for her to turn to her sensei. Kakashi looked at her for a second and their eyes met. Slowly he nodded. Sakura smiled and turned back to Hayate.

"I forfeit!" she announced. Naruto gapped at the pink haired girl while Team 10 and Sasuke nodded in understanding.

"Very well. Kinuta Dosu is the winner!" Hayate announced.

"Sakura-chan! Why did you do that?" Naruto asked, his voice almost an angry whine.

"We fought in the forest," Sakura said. "I don't stand a chance against him."

Naruto grumbled but didn't say anymore. If anything he respected her decision even if he didn't like it.

"The next match will be," Hayate paused to allow the computer to finish selecting. "Sabaku no Temari vs. Tenten."

The female ninja from Gai's team jumped down to the arena with a cocky smirk on her face. She was decimated in the fight. The female sand ninja, Temari, was a wind user. A very good wind user and Tenten's worst match up for a fight. Every attack Tenten threw at Temari was blocked by that giant fan or blown away with the wind. Eventually Temari went in for the kill and slammed the metal fan into Tenten, knocking her out cold.

Temari watched as Tenten flew up into the air and the sand ninja placed her fan right under the Konoha kunoichi. Tenten hit the fan and was bent over it.

Up in the balcony Naruto winced. If Tenten had been awake she probably would have been screaming in pain.

"Trash," Temari muttered, though it was purposely loud enough for everyone to hear. Neji and Lee visibly darkened at her statement. Suddenly Temari moved and flung Tenten towards the wall. To everyone's surprise Lee disappeared off the balcony and caught his teammate before she could be done further damage.

"What are you doing?" Lee yelled at the sand ninja. "Is that how you treat someone who gave her all in a battle?"

Temari scowled, "Shut up. Take that loser and get out of here."

Neji tensed and his eyes widened, "Lee! Stop!"

But the green spandex wearing genin had already launched himself into the famous Leaf Hurricane kick at Temari. To Lee's surprise the sand ninja somehow got her fan in the way of his kick.

"Just as I though! You really are as pathetic as you look!" Temari sneered.

"What did you say?" Lee glared daggers at Temari. They were stopped from fighting by the arrival of Lee's sensei, who told Lee to stop.

"Temari, get up here. Stop wasting your time with trash like him," a dark voice said from the balcony. Temari turned to view her little brother, Gaara.

Lee glared at Gaara and his muscles tensed as if he was going to attack. Gaara stared right back, emotionlessly.

"That's enough, Lee," Gai said and placed a hand on Lee's shoulder. "Sand team. There's something I should warn you guys about," Gai had a cocky smile on his face. "This kid is strong, you had better prepare yourselves."

Over with Team 7 Sakura was talking to Naruto, "You had better not lose here, Naruto. If you lose here your not a man and you'll never be able to face Sasuke-kun."

Naruto looked at her like she was crazy for a minute before smile, a new wave of determination coming over him. "Yeah!" the he turned to look at the computer screen. "Me next!"

Lee appeared next to the blonde with a look of fire in his eyes. "No! Next, I feel it is me!"

"Aburame Shino vs. Abumi Zaku!"

Naruto and Lee both slumped in defeat. Sakura couldn't help but laugh at both of them. Sasuke smirked at them. "You'll get your turns. Maybe you'll even fight each other."

Lee and Naruto both looked at each other, a wide grin on their face.

"Maa. I think that'd be a great match," Kakashi said.

"Wouldn't it be?" Gai asked. "Our two students facing off in a match! Maybe they'll become rivals, just like us, eh Kakashi!"

"Did you say something, Gai?"

"Damn your hip attitude!" Gai yelled and attracted the attention of the entire arena.

Hayate coughed. "Hajime."

Shino won, if a bit strangely. His bugs crowded into the air tubes in Zaku's one working arm and when Zaku attempted to use his jutsu the arm…. Well, it exploded and was no longer attached to Zaku's body. Needless to say the sound ninja's career was over.

"The next match will be," Hayate, once again, paused to let the names appear. "Uzumaki Naruto –"

Naruto gave a "whoop" of excitement.

"- vs. Tsurugi Misumi!"

XOXOX---

Chapter End!

Author's Note: Well I took a break from finals studying today and finished this. As you can see I went a different path from the usual prelims. This way doesn't bore me.

Latest Naruto Chapter Spoiler Alert (Don't read if you don't want chapter 449 spoiler for you!)

I think that Nagato deciding not to kill Naruto was a cool plot movement and I've loved everything so far but the bringing back to life of everyone who Pein killed… even though I love Kakashi and Shinzune (especially Shizune), I think it was a bad plot movement, but hey… who knows. Anyway, and this will go in the next chapter of _The Eldest Sister _for the purpose of that story, Pein never revived everyone because Rei killed him WHILE he still wanted to kill Naruto. And they will NEVER find out what could have happened if Naruto had talked to Nagato. NEVER EVER!

Spoiler end.

Read and review and see you next time!

P.S. I kept on having trouble with the differences between hear and here for some reason. I think I got most of them fixed but if I missed any (or possibly a lot) could you let me know? Thanks!

Oh and keep guess on the power abilities. Just so you know, Ino's is Arancar as well.


	4. Chapter 3: A Little Variation 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

XOXOX---

Chapter 3: A Little Variation # 2

"Uzumaki Naruto vs. Tsurugi Misumi!"

"Alright, it's my turn!" Naruto yelled and punched the air with his fist. Lee sighed dramatically and hung his head.

Suddenly he jumped up, startling all around him, "Yosh! The next match will surely be me! Good luck, Naruto!"

The blonde quickly ran down the balcony and sprinted to stand across from his opponent. Misumi was one of Kabuto's teammates. Like Kabuto he wore glass but he also had a drape like facemask. Misumi laughed at Naruto. "If my opponent is this little shrimp, I'll be done in no time!"

"Who are you calling a shrimp, four-eyes!" Naruto yelled back.

"The six match," Hayate flung his hand down and jumped back. "Hajime!"

Naruto sprinted forward, "I'll end this right now!"

XOXOX---

Up on the balcony Sasuke's hand slammed into his forehead, "That idiot is going to get himself killed."

XOXOX---

Misumi chuckled. "Too easy," he leapt at Naruto who easily blocked the punch with his forearms. Suddenly Misumi began to twist around Naruto until Naruto couldn't move as Misumi's arms wound themselves around his neck. "Quit now, or I'll keep squeezing."

Naruto growled, "No way in hell!"

XOXOX---

Up on the balcony Sakura whirled on Kakashi, "Shouldn't you do something?"

Kakashi eyed his female student, "Don't worry. I'll step in before anything bad happens."

Sakura looked back at the arena, worry written on her face, "Kakashi-sensei! You sh-."

She was stopped by Sasuke placing a hand on her shoulder, "Sakura, Naruto isn't beaten yet."

XOXOX---

"I'll give you one more chance," Misumi hissed in Naruto's ear. "Quit or die!"

Naruto smirked. "Neither!" With that he threw his weight forward and fell to the ground, taking Misumi with him. Naruto had enough room to move and sink his teeth in the older genin's arm while at the same time landing on his leg pouch, instantly exploding the two smoke bombs that he had placed there for quick use.

The two genin were covered in smoke, hiding them from the crowd. Inside the smoke Naruto was able to move his hand together into his trademark seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two clones appeared and drew kunai, stabbing the knives into Misumi's shoulders. The older genin cried out in pain and them he found a third clone's foot in his face. The force of the kick loosened Naruto even more, enough so a clone could replace with him. Of course, only Naruto knew he wasn't in Misumi's grasp.

The smoke cleared, revealing three Naruto's holding kunai to various parts of Misumi's body while another Naruto was still in the death hold. "It seems we are at a stalemate. Of course if I kill you, they will disappear. Please quit," his voice seemed sincere. "I don't want to kill a comrade."

"I wont quit! A Hokage never quits!" Naruto yelled. Many of the spectators admired his spirit, but frowned at his attitude. A Hokage also knew when to quit.

"I'm sorry!" Misumi squeezed and Naruto's neck gave way with a CRACK!

XOXOX---

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled in panic. She whirled on Kakashi, tears forming in her eyes. "YOU SAID YOU'D STEP IN!"

"Sakura," Sasuke tugged on his shoulder. "Look again."

XOXOX---

The Naruto in Misumi's grasp disappeared in a poof. Suddenly he found kunai in his legs and another kick to his face. This time the kick was mimicked by the two clones before the older genin hit the ground.

Misumi groaned and didn't get back up. Hayate sighed. He almost called the match too early.

Naruto's clones disappeared and the blonde jinchuuriki grinned, "Don't underestimate me!"

Hayate couldn't help but smile at the kid. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto punched the air with a "Whoop!" as his opponent was taken away on a stretcher by the medics. Naruto quickly ran back up to his team. Before he could get to his team, he was stopped by Hinata.

"A-ano, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said softly, yet Naruto was able hear her.

"Yeah, Hinata?" Naruto was surprised when Hinata handed him a small container. "What's this?" he asked and opened it to find a strange cream.

"H-healing ointment," Hinata stuttered. Her face turned red when Naruto's grin came back full force and he hugged her quickly.

"Thanks Hinata!"

Hinata nearly fainted.

When Naruto finally made it back to his team he was taken into a bone-crushing hug by Sakura. "You idiot!" she yelled.

"Sakura-chan! Can't –!" Sakura squeezed harder effectively cutting off Naruto's air supply.

"Maa, Sakura. You're going to kill him," Kakashi said nonchalantly causing Sakura to "eep!" and let Naruto go.

"Nice match, dobe," Sasuke said while giving Sakura a curious glance. Naruto nodded in thanks.

Once Naruto could breathe again he looked at Sakura in confusion. "Are you feeling alright, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura scowled. "What, I can't show some concern for my teammate?"

Team 7 let the matter drop to watch the next match.

"The next match will be Rock Lee -."

Lee vaulted over the railing before hearing or seeing the name of his opponent.

"- vs. Akado Yoroi!"

The shinobi who was Misumi's teammate calmly walked down to face Lee.

"Fighter's ready?" Hayate asked. Both nodded. "Hajime!"

Lee instantly sprinted at Yoroi and used the famous Leaf Hurricane kick. The older genin attempted to drain the boy of his chakra but found his special ability wasn't having any effect on the kid. By the time he realized that Lee had landed an extremely powerful kick to his head, rendering him unconscious.

"Winner, Rock Lee!"

Lee returned to the stands with a disappointed look on his face.

"Hey, bushy brows! Why do you look so down?" Naruto asked.

"That fight was rather anti-climatic. I feel as if my fight here should've been greater but some unknown force intervened!" Lee punched the air with his fist. "Yosh! That just means I will train my self much harder to face the great fighters that are going to be in the finals!"

Before Naruto could reply the next match was called. "Hyuga Hinata vs. Hyuga Neji!"

Kiba instantly turned to Hinata with a concerned look on his face. "Hinata, you've got to forfeit. Neji's too cruel to you, you'll get beaten to a pulp!"

Hinata ignored Kiba and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Kiba-kun. I can do this."

Everyone around her was surprised by the lack of stuttering from the usually timid girl. Before Kiba could protest Hinata began to walk down the balcony. She never once looked at Neji who had fallen into step beside her until they both stared each other down.

"I never thought I'd be facing you Hinata-sama," Neji spoke in a calm yet cool voice.

"Same here, Neji-nii-san," Hinata said. Her right hand went to finger something around her left wrist.

"I take it you sustained an injury before hand? Then you should forfeit. You have no chance of beating me. You are too kind. You will agree with others and never resist. You aren't fit to be a shinobi!" Neji's voice suddenly had an edge to it and Hinata felt her confidence fly out the window. Neji inwardly smirked as the shy girl he knew came back. "You have no self confidence, I always feel your sense of inferiority. That's why it would be best for you to remain a genin, but," Neji smirked. "These exams can only be taken by teams of three. Being the person you are you couldn't resist your teammates requests, so you entered this tournament unwillingly. Am I wrong?"

"I-I," Hinata's eyes began to shift before the focused back on Neji. The boy's eyes narrowed as he sensed some confidence return to the girl. "I wanted to change myself and do it myself."

Neji never seemed to loose his calm pose. "Just as I thought. You are a spoiled brat of the main house. People cannot change themselves! Losers are loser, they will never change!"

XOXOX---

Sasuke and Sakura shared a look as they both saw Naruto's hand grip the railing tightly. "That guy," he muttered under his breath.

XOXOX---

"Because people cannot change, differences are born. Expressions like loser and elite are created. Looks, brains, size, ability, personality," Neji saw Hinata's knees begin to buckle. Good. "All people judge and are judged in these values. Things cannot be changed. So I know, you are just acting strong but you really just want to run away from here."

"N-no! I really-!"

Suddenly everyone felt a pulse of chakra from Neji and his Byakugan appeared giving him an intimidating look. Hinata couldn't face those eyes and hers began to shift.

"You can't fool my eyes. Against my pressure just now, you floated your eyes to the upper left. This is a sign that you are remembering past experiences, your painful past. And after that you looked to the lower right, a sign that you are imagining physical and mental pain. Basically you are thinking about yourself and from all the experience until now, you are imagining the results of this match.

"Imagining that you'll lose!" Neji's byakugan flared with an intensity that made Hinata wince. She took a step back and her arms raised in front of her as if to ward off a blow. "That action of raising your arms in front of your body… that shows that you are trying to create a wall between us, create distance from me. That you are trying to prevent me from figuring out how you are truly feeling, because everything I have said is totally right. Further more…"

XOXOX---

Naruto was now glaring full force at Neji. Sasuke winced as he head the metal begin to creek under his grip.

XOXOX---

"… Touching your lip is a personality trait revealing a disturbance, it's a defense mechanism to soften the nervousness and worrying."

Everyone could see that tears were forming in Hinata's eyes. Neji knew it was time for the kill.

"So basically, haven't you already realized? You cnnot change your-!"

"YOU CAN!"

Hinata and Neji both turned to look at the orange clad ninja that interrupted their talk.

"Stop deciding things about people! Idiot! Hinata!" the girl gasped slightly. "KICK THAT BASTARDS ASS!"

Hinata felt her confidence return to her and she became aware of the object she had been grabbing onto. _'That's right.'_

"Hinata! Stand up for yourself! This is hard to watch!" Naruto yelled.

Naruto scoffed. The brat was annoying. He turned back to Hinata to find her stance changed. _'Her eyes changed.' _"So you won't quit. I'm not responsible for what happens."

Hinata closed her eyes and everyone felt a burst of chakra. "I will no longer run away! Neji-nii-san!" Hinata fell into a stance that seemed like the gentle fist with her byakugan activated. "We fight!"

"Hajime!" Hayate yelled and jumped back from the two Hyuga. Neji and Hinata charged at each other. The two danced around each other, each attack blocked or parried. Neither could gain a foothold. Suddenly Neji gained the upper hand and seemingly tapped Hinata everywhere he could reach. The girl winced and her body screamed in protest but she kept on fighting.

Hinata finally saw an opening and slammed her palm into Neji's shoulder forcing the older genin back with her right hand. Without faltering she thrust her left hand forward, intent on dealing more damage to the joint. Seeing this Neji let his muscles relax, causing him to slid a bit on the arena floor. Hinata's hand hit open air two inches away from Neji's shoulder.

Neji was about to smirk when…

A bolt of white light shot from Hinata's hand and impaled Neji's shoulder, leaving Neji's right arm immobile. Neji stared at his immobile arm for a moment before turning back to Hinata. With a roar of anger he slammed his hand right over Hinata's heart. Hinata gave a small gasp that she chocked on. She started to cough violently and blood spilled from her mouth. She realized what Neji had been doing the entire fight.

Suddenly Neji caught her in the chest with one final hit that sent her flying back to the ground. Neji reached his hand up and pulled away the bolt from his shoulder. He, and everyone else, watched in wonder as the bolt dissolved into thin air. Once it was gone the branch member turned his gaze to Hinata.

"This is the difference that is between one with talent and a loser. This is the reality that cannot be changed! Forfeit!"

Neji seethed in anger as Hinata slowly got back to her feet. "I w-won't run away," she whispered. "I won't go back on my word! That is my ninja way!"

Hinata let her gaze wonder for a moment and she found Naruto in the balcony overhead. He seemed surprised. She smiled as her confidence boosted.

XOXOX---

"I never knew Hinata was this incredible," Naruto said.

"She's very much like you," Lee said.

Sakura giggled. "Yeah, she was always watching you."

Naruto looked at Sakura with confusion written on his face. Instead of asking her what she meant he returned his gaze to the battle.

XOXOX---

"Come!"

Hinata took a step forward before doubling over in pain. She almost fell to the floor when she heard Naruto's voice. "You can do it, Hinata!"

Neji cursed. _'Damn brat!' _

Hinata charged Neji again and he found himself hard pressed to dodge her attacks with one working arm. The only consolation was that he could feel strength returning to his arm, though he didn't know why. Maybe the bolt only looked like it did more damage. He shifted his weight as Hinata came in for an attack. There!

The Hyuga girl fell to the ground.

"You don't understand. From the beginning your attacks have done little to hinder me."

Hayate nodded. "Hyuga Hinata is unable to -."

"Don't stop it!" Naruto yelled. Before Hayate could protest he heard a muffled groan. He looked down at Hinata and saw her getting back to her feet, though slowly.

"It's not over," Hinata whispered.

"Acting tough is useless! You can barely stand! From the time of your birth the responsibilities of the main house have been force upon you. You hate yourself for your own weaknesses but people cannot change. That is destiny! Just give up! You don't need to suffer anymore!" Neji's voice almost sounded like he cared. Almost.

"That's not true, Neji-nii-san. It's not me at all. The one who is lost and suffering is you," Hinata said. There was a silence after her words. Neji sprinted forward, ignoring Hayate's yell to stop. He was angry. Suddenly he was restrained by various jounin.

"Stand down, Neji. You won," Gai said and began to pull his student away from Hinata.

Said genin stared in shock at Neji before she collapsed to the ground, coughing violently. "Get a medic!" Kurenai shouted and ran to her student's side. Upon seeing the condition of their friend Lee, Naruto, and Sakura vaulted over the rails and ran to her side as well.

"Hinata! Are you alright?" Naruto asked as he knelt by her. He saw Hinata's eyes flicker slightly.

'_Naruto-kun,'_ Hinata thought as the darkness took her. _'Have I changed a little?'_

"Hey, loser."

Naruto whipped his head around to face Neji and scowled.

"I'd like to tell you two things. If you're a shinobi cut out the pathetic cheering of others and in the end, a loser is a loser! They cannot change!"

Naruto stood and glared at Neji. "You want to test me?"

Neji smiled and nodded slightly. With a growl Naruto charged at the smug looking Hyuga. Naruto would've reached Neji too if Lee hadn't stopped him.

"Naruto-kun, I understand your feelings so much that it hurts. Bu fighting should be saved for the matches. Besides, if a loser can defeat an elite through the power of hard work… well that's something to look forward to for the main matches."

Naruto didn't like it but he stood down. His attention was switched as Hinata entered a violent coughing fit, coughing up more blood. The medics that had reached her swore. "At this rate she won't last 10 minutes! Let's go!"

The blonde stared at the ground where Hinata had been. He bent down and placed his palm in a pool of Hinata's blood. Ignoring the looks of disgust from others he held his fist towards Neji. "You are going down!"

XOXOX---

Sasuke chuckled slightly. "He hasn't realized it yet."

Shikamaru nodded. "Naruto doesn't stand a chance against someone like him. The difference in ability is too big."

Sasuke shook his head. "No, I meant Neji doesn' realize it yet. Right now Naruto may be weaker than him but if there's one thing I know, it's that Naruto's not going to give up until he's pounded Neji into the ground. Neji doesn't know what he's getting himself into."

Shino and Team 10 just remained silent at Sasuke words. Was Naruto really that determined?

XOXOX---

Across the arena Kankuro chuckled. "He doesn't realize that there's too much of a difference in abilities." _'That Neji guy, he's a monster. He shook of those wounds like it was nothing and still decimated his opponent. Gaara's bloodlust is growing… I really don't want to fight him.'_

XOXOX---

Hayate coughed when all the people were finally back in the stands. "The next match will be between Sabaku no Kankuro and Inuzuka Kiba!"

Kiba breathed a sigh of relief.

The fight last two minutes. Kiba and Akamaru used their man beast clone technique and barreled into Kankuro. Only to have a puppet holding a poisoned blade to both of their necks. They had to forfeit or get killed.

Hayata coughed again. "Winner, Sabaku no Kankuro. Will the last two fighters please come down here."

"I forfeit!" Chouji yelled from his position. Instantly Ino started to yell at him.

"Very well. Then will the winners please come down here and pick a number out of this box. Then please announce your number."

"1," Naruto said.

"4," Sasuke announced.

"3," Dosu said.

"2," Neji glared at Naruto who glared back.

"8," Shikamaru yawned.

"7," Temari said.

"5," Gaara said in monotone. On the inside he was seething that he didn't get to kill.

"6!" Lee yelled.

"9," Shino said.

"10," Kankuro said.

"Okay," Hayata showed them a sheet of paper. "These will be the match for the finals that will take place in one month at the arena. Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Neji. Uchiha Sasuke vs. Kinuta Dosu. Sabaku no Gaara vs. Rock Lee. Sabaku no Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru. And finally Sabaku no Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino."

The Hokage spoke for the first time startling everyone. "You have this one month to prepare to face your opponents. Any questions?"

XOXOX---

Chapter End!

Authors Note: Wow. Long chapter with just over 10 pages… dang. I didn't think I could do it. I'm disappointed by the lack of Bleach stuff in this chapter but I promise by the finals all nine of the chosen genin will have their powers and have used them a few times. Right now it's just Sasuke, Ino, Sakura, and Hinata. Hinata's is Quincy with a Konoha symbol instead of a cross. I also apologize if most of the Hinata vs. Neji match seems boring, but I wanted it as close to canon as possible because not only do I love the Neji vs. Naruto fight, that fight is important to this fic. Anyway read/review and send me your questions if you have any! See you next time!


	5. Chapter 4: The Sword in the Bars

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

XOXOX---

Chapter 4: The Sword in the Bars

Naruto was in silent concentration, his feet just inches below the surface of the hot spring water. He needed to concentrate his chakra to be able to get his feet above the water. The special jounin Ebisu, watched in awe at the boys determination. In only half-an-hour the boy had come from falling into the extremely hot water, too standing just below the surface.

"Naruto," Ebisu called out. "Take a break for a bit."

Naruto nodded and trudged through the water until he reached an area where he could step out of the water. Once he was fully on land he sat on the stones.

"This is harder than it looks."

"You've only been at this for a short amount of time but you're already close to standing on the water. At this rate you'll have this technique mastered by the time of finals."

Naruto smiled. "Damn straight I will! Ya know, you may be a closet pervert but you're not that bad of a teacher. I'm not so angry that Kakashi-sensei dumped me on you to train Sasuke. He's probably teaching him how to use that sword of his."

Ebisu eyed Naruto out of the corner of his eye. "What sword?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. In the forest some of the genin got strange weapons. Sasuke and Sakura got some strange looking swords, Ino got a whip and Hinata got some key chain that shoots stuff at people," Naruto grumbled. "I don't think I'm going to get some of those cool things, so I'll just have to train harder to keep up with them!"

The blonde ninja leapt onto his feet and walked towards the water.

Ebisu stared at the boy. _'He was only resting for maybe a minute. How much stamina does he have?'_

"And I'm not going to get stronger if I sit around doing nothing!" Naruto yelled and molded his chakra.

"What's with all this yelling?" a deep voice asked Ebisu. The special jounin turned around quickly with a kunai in hand, only to have a much larger hand grab his wrist. "Hey there! Sorry that I startled you."

Ebisu quickly recognized the white-haired giant that stood before him. He bowed deeply. "I apologize Jiraiya-sama!"

The Toad Sage gave a hearty laugh. "No need to apologize. Aren't you that guy that's training the old man's grandson, uh… Eb-something?"

"Ebisu," Ebisu corrected.

"Yeah. So Ebisu, why are you training this brat?" Jiraiya pointed towards Naruto. Said genin's face was screwed up in concentration as he floated a top the water, wavering from a few inches to only one.

"As a favor for Kakashi," Ebisu pushed his sunglasses up. "His other student took priority to train because of the sharingan."

"No way. Kakashi got the last Uchiha and the brat. Let me guess, this one and the other kid are going to the chuunin exam finals?" Jiraiya scowled. "Then why not train both of his students. Do you know who the two are facing?"

"Yes. Naruto is facing the Hyuuga prodigy, Neji. And Sasuke is facing the remaining sound genin. A boy by the name of Dosu."

Jiraiya's scowl lessened. "Well I can see why the Uchiha took priority. Oto is run by Orochimaru after all," the big man ignored Ebisu's surprised look. "But he still shouldn't have left his other student hanging."

"Well, he did ask me to take him here and teach him how to control his chakra," Ebisu said, attempting to defend Kakashi.

"Damn brat. He must've heard I was back in town and intended this," Jiraiya patted Ebisu on his shoulder. "I'll take over from here. Kakashi must've wanted me to train him but knew I wouldn't if he asked. Now that I've seen the brat I'll take it upon myself to train him."

Ebisu nodded. "Hai, Jiraiya-sama. And if it makes any difference, if both boys win their fights they go to fight each other in the second round."

When he saw Jiraiya smirk the special jounin disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Hey, brat!"

Naruto's concentration faltered and he fell into the hot spring. He emerged swearing his head off. The jinchuuriki climbed out of the hot water and coughed. It was then that he noticed Jiraiya standing over him with an amused expression. "Who are you?"

He regretted asking the question as a glint appeared in the man's eye.

"Thank you for asking!" Jiraiya yelled and slammed his hand upon the ground. Naruto jumped back as a toad the size of a horse appeared under the man. He stared in shock as the man began an idiotic dance a top the toad's head. "I am Mt. Myobokuzan's holy master sennin, also known as Toad Sennin! Remember it!"

The toad rolled its eyes.

"What did you do to the closet pervert?" Naruto asked.

"I sent him off because I'm taking over your training! You should be honored!"

"Yeah. Honored," Naruto rolled his eyes. "Didn't I see you peeping over there a few minutes ago?"

Jiraiya's smile unnerved Naruto. "Why yes you did! And I must thank you for not ruining my opportunity at research."

"Research?"

Jiraiya pulled out an orange book from his pocket. "I am the famous author of the Icha Icha Series!"

An image of Kakashi _giggling _over a copy of that book appeared in the blonde's head. He jumped back and pointed a finger at the man accusingly. "Gah! That's the perverted book Kakashi-sensei is always reading! You're a pervert!"

Jiraiya frowned. "I am NOT a pervert!"

"Like hell you aren't!"

"No. I'm a SUPER PERVERT!" Jiraiya yelled while wiggling his hands in mid air, a lecherous grin on his face. Suddenly his face fell and he ran back over to his spying area and looked into the hot springs. "Damn! I was too loud, they all ran."

"So you'll train me now?" Naruto asked hopefully. Even if the man didn't look all that capable, Naruto was never one to turn down training.

"Now, no. I wont teach you anything knew until you master the water walking exercise. But as it looks you'll have that done by tomorrow night at the latest. I might be able to teach you a few things before the finals."

XOXOX---

The next morning Naruto showed up at the hot springs eager to learn. The previous night he had master the water walking technique and the Toad Sannin had agreed to teach him something.

He found Jiraiya sitting in front of his peeping hole. The man ignored him for over ten minutes. At this point Naruto had two options: yell "pervert" or attract the man to him. The later option made him shudder but the fiver option might make the man mad enough not to train him. He sighed.

"Sexy Jutsu!" he whispered. In Naruto's place appeared a completely nude female with blonde hair. S/he tapped Jiraiya on the man's shoulder and whisper. "Jiraiya-sama. Please come train me."

S/he was startled by how fast Jiraiya turned around, a note book in hand. "Oh! You're good kid! Really good! Now how about a pose?"

Naruto scowled and released the jutsu. "No."

"Then don't waste my time!" Jiraiya turned back to the hot spring fence with his notebook out.

"You said you would train me today!"

Jiraiya sighed. "Fine. Listen carefully, brat. I'm only going to offer this once. You are being given the golden opportunity to summon the legendary toads! Do you accept?"

Naruto answered immediately. "Hell yeah!"

"Good, sign this." A giant toad appeared next to Naruto and the toad opened its mouth revealing a giant scroll. "Write your name in blood as well as your finger prints in blood in the next open space."

Naruto looked at the scroll and noticed Jiraiya's name then another one before the next open spot. He signed his name and placed his finger prints in the open space before asking Jiraiya. "Hey, who's Namikaze," Naruto paused, attempting to read the messy handwriting. "Minato?"

"You don't recognize the name? What did they teach you at the academy?" Jiraiya asked incredulously.

"Um… I may have been absent on that day," Naruto sheepishly laughed.

"He was the fourth Hokage."

Jiraiya waited for the information to click in the brat's mind. 3, 2, 1…

'I signed the same contract the Yondaime signed,' Naruto was on cloud nine. "That is awesome! I'm going to summon the boss toad right from the start!"

"You know about the boss toad. That's good. But you wont be able to summon him right away. _You _don't have enough chakra for that." _'The Kyuubi on the other hand…'_

"Oh, Ero-Sennin. What are the hand seals?"

"What did you just call me?" Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched.

"Ero-Sennin. You're a pervert and a sage, right?"

"Well… yeah."

"Then you're Ero-Sennin to me," Naruto smiled happily.

"Damn brat! Show some respect!"

"Bah, just tell me the hand seals!"

Jiraiya sighed. This was going to be a long day.

XOXOX---

Indeed it was a long day, but at the end of it a tired Naruto stood a top a horse sized toad, smiling triumphantly. The toad under him had a smirk of his own on his face even as the blonde toppled over his head and landed on the ground, exhaustion sinking in.

"Today was his first day summoning, am I correct?" the toad asked.

"Yeah, Gamasui. His first day and he got all the way to you. That's much faster than I thought. He's got some real feelings driving him to get stronger."

Gamasui nodded. "I will let the elders knows that the new summoner shows promise. Do you want me to tell Gamabunta?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Better you than me."

"Then I will leave," the toad returned to Myobokuzan with the news.

Jiraiya looked down at the sleeping boy at his feet and scowled. Now he had to drag the brat all the way to the hospital.

XOXOX---

A bruised and battered Sasuke gasped for air as Kakashi called a halt to his speed training. Denkiryu was thrust into the ground blade first and the Uchiha's hand was grasped firmly around the hilt. His grip was the only thing keeping him upright, even though he was kneeling.

Kakashi stood a ways away from his student. For once his book was away and he was completely serious. "Ready?"

Sasuke grunted and pushed himself to his feet. He took a defensive stance with Denkiryu, the zanpakuto advising him how to adjust his stance. For now it was physical exercises, the zanpakuto promised Sasuke he would start teaching Sasuke kido. Thankfully for both of them, the curse mark was not affecting Sasuke's chakra anymore and hadn't even touched his reiatsu.

Kakashi took that as a go and sprang forward, a kunai in each hand, and began to attack his student a various angles, leaving it up to Sasuke to defend.

XOXOX---

Uzumaki Naruto stood before Jiraiya fresh and eager to learn after only a few hours in the hospital.

"As you know you have a secondary chakra source, otherwise known as the Kyuubi," Jiraiya announced as he slipped into teacher mode. "I am going to spend the rest of the week attempting to get you to access its power."

"And how are we going to do that?" Naruto was nervous. He had only used the Kyuubi's chakra once before and it was incredible. The upper hand he had gained against Haku…

"I'm not entirely sure. I could mess around with the seal," Jiraiya looked a bit eager. "But that will not produce a good result at this point." _'Maybe later.' _"First I want you to tell me if you have ever used the Kyuubi's chakra before?"

"Yes."

"How many times."

"Definitely twice. I'm not so sure about a third time though," Naruto strained as he searched his memory of his fight against Mizuki. He didn't recall the same feelings as when he had definitely used the Kyuubi's chakra, but how else could he make so many Shadow Clones. A feat that to this day he hadn't been able to replicate.

"Tell me about each time, even the time you're not so sure about."

Naruto nodded and told Jiraiya about each time he had used the Kyuubi's chakra against Haku and against Orochimaru.

"I've got it. You use the Kyuubi's chakra under times of extreme emotional stress. Now I want to teach you to access the Kyuubi's chakra without having to be under that emotional stress. Now I've read Minato's notes on the seal that he used and I gathered that you should be able to speak to the demon. I want you to meditate for the next few hours and we will see if you can get anything."

XOXOX---

Three days later there were absolutely no results with the meditating.

'_Alright. Time to use to cliff method.' _Jiraiya thought. "Hey, kid. How about we try to summon the boss toad?"

"Didn't you say I couldn't do that yet?"

"Nonsense! Just follow me!" Jiraiya lead Naruto away from their training area towards the deep ravine that was nearby Konoha. This would provide some results, most likely getting the Uzumaki to use the Kyuubi's chakra. The old pervert grinned, this would be fun.

XOXOX---

Sosuke Aizen sat in his office at the 5th Division barracks in Seireitei. A small stack of papers sat in front of him and he was reading through them carefully. They were reports from the few Arrancar he had watching his ten experiment's in the shinobi world. At this point all but one had shown their abilities, even if some only had their weapon available. The one that had yet to activate was the third of his proposed Shinigami's, the boy known as Uzumaki Naruto. Normally, Aizen wouldn't have been troubled by this fact but…

Uzumaki's had never sent back any data about the boy.

It was as if it had never made contact.

Silently he stood from his desk and left his office, traveling through his barracks. To any passerby it looked as if he was merely heading for his quarters. Truly he was, but that was not his last stop. As quickly as possible he sent out his double while he made a Senkaimon to Las Noches.

As he appeared Aizen noticed Gin, Kaname, and Stark waiting for him. He smiled. "Stark. Gather those I have chosen. Gin, go back to Seireitei. I have no doubt now that Uzumaki's device was a failure."

He watched as the two disappeared, Gin back through Aizen's Senkaimon and Stark in a sonido.

"It's time to train them," Kaname whispered.

"Indeed. It's time they know exactly what they are."

XOXOX---

The Kyuubi at the cage that kept him imprisoned, staring at the hilt of a sword that stuck out of it facing him. The sword had appeared months ago, on the day that the Kyuubi sensed a strange power attempting to mix with his container, the tip of its blade jammed into the bar of the cage. The source of the strange power was destroyed shortly after it appeared, the Kyuubi had felt The Shinigami's influence strongly at that time.

Over time the sword began to sink into the bars, faster when the boy had used his power.

Whatever the sword represented, it would be gone by the end of the day. Especially since his container was about to pay him a visit. The Kyuubi barely contained his laughter when the aged pervert pushed Naruto off the cliff with the instructions to call upon the fox's chakra and summon a huge toad or die. Quickly the boy appeared in front of the Kyuubi and demanded chakra.

"**Very well. Take some of my chakra!" **the Kyuubi bellowed. **"But know this, I will escape from here one day, and on that day you will die."**

He sent the boy back to the real world and watched through Naruto's eyes as the blonde summoned the boss toad, Gamabunta.

Instantly his eyes traveled back to the sword and watched as the last of the hilt dissolved into the bar of the cage.

'_**Something big is coming.'**_

XOXOX---

The Shinigami of the shinobi world nodded in content. The small amount of influence Aizen would have had over Uzumaki Naruto was now gone. Now…

Now he could truly begin.

By the end of the month, Aizen's plans would have a large blockade in the form of one blonde genin.

XOXOX---

Chapter End!

Authors Notes: Wow.

That took me forever to finish, yet so little time overall. I apologize for the extremely long update. Last weak I wasn't sleeping well, and this week I was busy playing Halo Wars. Well, I'm not happy about the beginning but I really don't want to go back to review it in fear that I'll attempt to change it and never get the chapter out… and I'm lazy. There's a bit of Aizen in this, a bit of what happened to the device that was destroyed as well as what destroyed it. Naruto now no longer has any possibility of becoming the Shinigami/Ninja that Aizen wanted him to be. And those that got the devices, you should know who by now, will begin training over the month and have a semi-decent grasp of their basic abilities. Keep guessing who's got what powers though.

So far the line up is

Sasuke: Shinigami

Sakura: Arrancar

Ino: Arrancar

Hinata: Quincy

Kiba: ?

Shino: ?

Tenten: ?

Chouji: ?

Shikamaru: ?

Well, see you next time. Hopefully I'll get a chapter for _TES _up soon.


	6. Chapter 5: Hajime!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Authors Apology: About the _**really**_ long update time, I'm sorry. And no I do not have writers block, I have the curse of laziness.

Authors Notes: I have to congratulate both The Laughing Phoenix and Thenewguy15 for correctly guessing what abilities the five genin were given! And to everyone that has asked, yes Naruto will get powers. Just not for a while, and you'll see why I'm holding off on giving him his powers before the time-skip. Actually you might be able to figure it out by the end of the chapter.

XOXOX---

Chapter 5: Hajime!

_Previously:_

"_**Very well. Take some of my chakra!"**__ the Kyuubi bellowed. __**"But know this, I will escape from here one day, and on that day you will die."**_

_He sent the boy back to the real world and watched through Naruto's eyes as the blonde summoned the boss toad, Gamabunta._

_Instantly his eyes traveled back to the sword and watched as the last of the hilt dissolved into the bar of the cage._

'_**Something big is coming.'**_

_XOXOX---_

_The Shinigami of the shinobi world nodded in content. The small amount of influence Aizen would have had over Uzumaki Naruto was now gone. Now…_

_Now he could truly begin._

_By the end of the month, Aizen's plans would have a large blockade in the form of one blonde genin._

XOXOX---

Naruto opened his eyes slowly. "Ugh… what the hell…?"

"Oh, you're awake."

Naruto turned his head to see Shikamaru sitting next to his bed, a bored look on the Nara's face. "What are you doing here?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Killing time, I don't want to go home. It's amazing, it hasn't even been a week since the prelims and your already training yourself into chakra exhaustion. What were you doing anyway?"

Naruto groaned. "Uh… summoning."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow. "Really? Where'd you get a contract from?"

Naruto smiled. "Not telling."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Anyway, there's some food here so eat up."

The blonde looked to the table next to his bed and saw a fruit basket. He grabbed an apple and bit into it. "You brought me food?"

"Nah, it was for Chouji but he's not aloud to have food."

"Huh? He never fought," Naruto took another bite. "What's he here for?"

"He over-ate."

Coughing followed as Naruto nearly chocked on the apple.

XOXOX---

A tall dark-haired man entered the hospital followed by a slightly shorter dark-skinned man. The two marched right up to the visitor's desk and asked for a room. The nurse working gave it to them and the two continued on their way.

"So, Akamichi Chouji," the taller man muttered. "He's the one I've got to train?"

"Hai, Aizen-sama assigned you to him because your work ethics are similar," the dark-skinned man whispered back.

"I thought I'd match up with the Shikamaru kid," the tall man smiled quickly to one of the passing nurses who blushed slightly and hurried away.

"If personalities were all that mattered, then yes. But we need to teach him and as a Shinigami -."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it Tousen."

Tousen frowned but remained silent.

"I just wish we didn't have to wear these uncomfortable things."

"The gigai are meant for all of us to blend in as normal people," Tousen said. "You know that Stark."

Stark rolled his eyes and pulled at the collar of his shirt. "Yeah, but I don't see any point in that."

"It's so we don't scare our pupils if they realize other people can't see us."

Stark sighed. "Bah, let them find out. It'll save us the trouble of explaining it all to them."

"We're here," Tousen said and reached to open the room door. Inside the room sat both of their targets, plus one unexpected addition. Tousen instantly flinched at the blonde boy who was the experiment's one failure.

XOXOX---

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto bluntly asked the two men that stepped into Chouji's hospital room.

"My name is Stark and the blind man right next to me is Tousen," Stark lazily pointed.

"Why are you here?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

Stark sighed. _Ninja are too damn paranoid._

"I'm going to be blunt. You two have obtained new powers recently."

Naruto twisted his head towards the both of them and scowled. "What? Both of you! Come on already! At this rate I'm going to be left in the dust!"

Chouji chuckled. "I didn't get mine until this morning and Shikamaru got his yesterday."

Naruto mumbled something under his breath but didn't talk.

"Anyway, we are here to teach you two how to use your powers!"

"And how would you know how to use them?" Shikamaru was wary, something about the two men reeked 'don't mess with us'.

"Shikamaru-san," Tousen spoke startling everyone in the room. "These powers are not simply luck, you were _given _these abilities."

"Wha-?"

"All questions will be answered later," Stark quickly spoke. "Meet use at the entrance to the hospital at seven tomorrow."

The two immediately left the hospital room leaving behind three confused genin.

"What the hell?"

XOXOX---

The next morning Shikamaru and Chouji met at the hospital entrance at seven and saw Stark and Tousen waiting.

"Ah, it's good that you did not bring the other boy," Tousen beckoned for them to follow.

Shikamaru shrugged. "He said he had things to do."

The man ignored him and continued walking, and to the genin's surprise not bumping into anything. It was as if the man wasn't blind…

"Where are we going?"

"To meet the others," was Tousen's cryptic answer. Shikamaru shared a look with Chouji who nodded. The two genin were ready to bolt at a moments notice if things looked bad. Wordlessly Chouji reached into his pouch and grabbed a bag of chips. They would be ready.

XOXOX---

Sasuke breathed out slowly as he finished his morning exercises for Kakashi's training. Kakashi himself stood across the outcropping from Sasuke and placed his orange book back into his weapon's pouch. "Ready?"

Sasuke's response was to sprint towards Kakashi in a full-blown assault. Normally Kakashi would advice against this but the aim of this training was speed, not tact. Tact would come later.

Kakashi blocked Sasuke's punch and grabbed his arm. Using Sasuke's momentum he flipped the Uchiha over his head. Sasuke recovered and landed on his feet, launching into a spin kick almost before his feet hit the ground. Kakashi allowed the kick to hit him and laughed when Sasuke fell on his face because a log appeared where Kakashi had stood.

"Jutsu!" Kakashi's voice rang across the clearing and Sasuke quickly made hand seals as Kakashi reappeared. A giant fireball scorched the area within a second of Kakashi appearing.

Kakashi appeared roughly thirty meters away from Sasuke, next to a rock where Denkiryu lay.

"Grab your sword. If you go fast enough for my taste's I wont try and stop you."

Sasuke disappeared and reappeared ten feet away moving at high speeds. He strained himself to move faster. Faster. The world blurred by, everything even Kakashi blended together. He was inches away, his hand outstretched for the hilt. Four inches, three inches, two inches, one inch!

WHAM!

Kakashi jumped in front of Sasuke and punched him in the stomach just before Sasuke could grab Denkiryu.

Sasuke sailed backwards and rolled across the ground for a good ten feet before stopping.

"Not fast enough."

Clapping was heard, making both ninja tense.

"Oh come on, Hatake-san. The boy was already moving extremely fast," a voice said.

Standing a few meters away from the two ninja was a brown-haired man wearing a white robe. A smirk was on his face as he clapped for Sasuke.

"Yes he was, but he will need to be faster," Kakashi said with an eye smile. "Now, who are you and why are you here?"

"My name is Aizen and I am here to offer Sasuke a proposition."

"What exactly, if I may ask?" Kakashi's hands moved towards his weapons pouch.

Aizen noticed the movement. "You may ask. I am here to teach Sasuke how to use his blade, and _all _the powers that come with it."

"No thanks," Sasuke stood up and stretched slightly, wincing at the bruises already forming. "I'm doing fine on my own."

Aizen's eyes flashed dangerously, but the smile never left his face. "I must insist that you reconsider."

Sasuke glared at him. "No thanks. I _am_ doing fine on my own."

Kakashi chuckled and pulled his orange book out of his pouch. "Very well, Aizen-san. It seems that he has made his choice. No I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Aizen nodded. "Then I will try at a later date. Goodbye Hatake-san, Sasuke."

With that Aizen turned around and began to walk away. Kakashi didn't move until Aizen had long disappeared down the path.

"That was interesting."

Sasuke snorted.

XOXOX---

Aizen appeared in a forest clearing and was pleased to find his subordinates already there with their charges.

"So, he refused?" a blue-haired Arrancar asked. Aizen nodded. He looked around quickly to make sure everyone was there. Stark, Tousen, Grimmjow, Harribel, Cirucci, and Zommari. The quincy he found, Souken Ishida, stood next to Tousen. It was clear to all Arrancar that the man was under the influence of Aizen's shikai.

"It is not important at this moment," Aizen turned his attention to the eight genin gathered around the clearing. Nara Shikamaru: the lone Shinigami of the current group. Akamich Chouji, Yamanaka Ino, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Haruno Sakura: the Arrancar. Finally Hyuga Hinata and Tenten: the Quincy. He noted that they were all grouped together and in a part of the clearing making an easy escape possible. They were too tense; he would need to change that. "I apologize to you for the secretive ways we have been using. It is important that no one else finds out about this, and before you ask: we do not intend harm to the Leaf village any more than any of you."

"Who are you?"

Aizen smiled. "I'm glad that you asked. My name is Sosuke Aizen," he reached into his robes and pulled out a plain looking katana. "And this is my Zanpakuto. _Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu._"

XOXOX---

"Ero-sennin!"

_Oh hell no. He's back already. Okay, Jiraiya. Close your eyes and count to ten. He'll go away._

"Ero-sennin!"

_One._

"Ero-sennin! I know you can hear me!"

_Two._

"ERO-SENNIN!"

_THREE!_

"ERO-SENNIN!" Naruto shouted right in the man's ear.

"WHAT?!"

"I'm back for more training. You've got more to teach me right?"

Jiraiya sighed. _What did I do to deserve this…?_ "Not now, brat. I'm busy."

"I doubt there are anymore girls in there," Naruto pointed towards the hot springs fence. Jiraiya didn't even look, he'd seen then run as soon as Naruto shouted his name.

"Fine. I'm going to teach you ONE more thing. This jutsu will take you until long after the finals to master, but you might be able to use the basics during your battles."

"Sweet! What's the jutsu?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"The Rasengan!"

"… the what?"

XOXOX---

The month had finally passed and now the contestants all stood ready to fight. The proctor for the exam introduced himself as Genma and told them to look sharp. "There are two Kages up there watching over you. Show them what you're made of!"

Genma turned his attention to the Hokage who nodded.

"Attention please!" the Hokage called out, silencing the massive stadium. "It is my great pleasure to announce the third round of the Chuunin exam has officially started!"

The crowd cheered.

"Alright kids. You all know the rules, everything goes but if I step in that means you stop no matter what. Now then, give them a show. The first match will be Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Neji, will all others please exit to the waiting area above."

"Naruto," Sasuke nodded to the blonde. "You'd better win this."

The Uzumaki smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be winning the tournament before you can blink. Just watch me."

Sasuke smirked. "That is if you can beat me," then he followed the others out of the arena. Naruto turned his attention to Neji.

"You should quit right now. You have no chance against me," Neji stated.

"You know, for a genius you can be pretty dumb," Naruto scowled at Neji. "You think you can actually make me give up. I made a promise, one that I will keep!"

Neji assumed the Hyuga taijutsu stance. "Very well."

Genma sensed the tension between the two and raised his hand. "The first match of the finals, Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Neji… HAJIME!"

XOXOX---

Chapter End!

Author's Note: I have nothing to say except I blame xBox-live. And Pendragon books… and sheer laziness. Anyway I have another guessing game for you guys. I picked the Arrancar to train the genin for specific reasons, be it similar powers of personalities… kinda. So I'm going to tell you the obvious ones and leave the rest for you to guess.

Aizen: Sasuke

Tousen: Shikamaru

Stark: Chouji

Souken: Tenten and Hinata. (If you didn't know, Souken is Ishida's grandfather.)

Grimmjow: ?

Harribel: ?

Cirucci: ?

Zommari: ?

This may be a bit difficult because you don't know all of the genin's abilities. But you know enough to guess. Anyway, see you next time and hopefully I'll be able to get a _TES _chapter out by the end of the week, and I am really looking forward to writing that one!


	7. Chapter 6: Cage vs Prison!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Authors Note: Congratulations to **darkness7013, j0hnni, **and** ozmose1991**, for correctly guessing who is training who. And another thing I need to clarify on: when the sword inside the Kyuubi's cage disappeared into the bars it meant that whatever abilities Aizen's device were going to give Naruto was gone forever. It was the Shinigami of the Shinobi World that prevented Aizen's device from fully syncing with Naruto, and who rigged it so when he used the Kyuubi's chakra the… disappearing of the Shinigami(Bleach version) abilities would be accelerated. As for the pairings, I have no idea what they will be. BUT, regardless of what girl he is paired up with, it'll be only one girl. No threesomes or harems. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and enjoy the chapter!

XOXOX---

Chapter 6: Cage vs. Prison!

Genma sensed the tension between the two and raised his hand. "The first match of the finals, Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuga Neji… HAJIME!"

Naruto whipped his hands up from his sides and formed the seal for shadow clones. Wordlessly five of them appeared and the six Naruto's ran towards Neji and circled the Hyuga. Neji just activated his Byakugan and assumed the Gentle Fist taijutsu stance.

Neji crouched and spun his feet in the dirt, pivoting him to strike at the clone that rushed from behind. Fluidly he continued his pivot and jabbed at a second clone that grimaced before it disappeared. The Hyuga let out a slow breathe as he resumed his stance, having done a full 360 and watched the four Naruto's carefully.

Without flinching the Hyuga caught the shuriken thrown by a clone on his right and tossed it back with more force. The clone ducked under the weapon and sprinted forward, tossing a few smoke bombs at the ground.

Neji smirked and kicked his left as another clone attempted to use the smoke for cover. "That was useless."

With only two clones left, the real Naruto leapt into the smoke and growled in frustration when Neji ducked under his fist. In response Neji countered and jabbed Naruto right above his heart. The other two shadow clones disappeared as the smoke cleared.

Neji's smirk grew wider. "Found you. I'm afraid you have lost, loser."

Naruto's eyes flashed and focused in one in before a smirk of his own appeared. "Poof."

The clone disappeared and Neji spun around instantly, finding no less than twenty Naruto's jumping him from nearly all sides. Quickly Neji jumped backwards towards the only opening…

And right into a pair of clones that had been lucky enough to get in his blind spot. The clones grabbed the Hyuga's arms and rushed towards the group of clones with Neji being dragged between them. They ignored it when Neji began to struggle. The two clones regretted it as they were flung into the air as Neji began to spin.

"Kaiten!"

The two clones grabbing Neji's arms were used as human weapons to slam into every other clone and they were sent flying separate ways.

When Neji stopped spinning he saw Naruto crouched a few meters away breathing heavily.

Naruto looked up and his eyes met Neji's. The Hyuga took a stance that was different from the normal Gentle Fist stance. "You are in my range. Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Before Naruto had a chance to move Neji was upon him in a blur of movement.

"Two hands! Four hands! Eight hands! Sixteen hands!"

Naruto's body was jerked around roughly as he quickly lost feeling and chakra.

"Thirty-two hands!"

Naruto was barely standing by this point.

"Sixty-four hands!"

Naruto was forced off of his feet by the force of the blow and he landed several feet away from Neji.

Genma looked at Naruto and sighed. 'That's it.'

"I have hit sixty-four points on your body, so you cannot stand or use your chakra," Neji announced. He smirked as Naruto curled up in the fetal position. "Is it painful? Stay on your knees before a power you cannot change and realized your worthlessness. Having your dreams come true through hard work… is an illusion."

Naruto managed to lift his head to glare at Neji before it feel back. 'Damn it…'

An image of Hinata standing before Neji, beaten and bruised but refusing to back down appeared in his head.

'Damn it!'

He willed his protesting muscles to move… to stand as an image of Sasuke and Sakura along with everyone else that had gotten a special ability appeared in his mind. They were all looking down at him… Naruto could almost hear Sasuke muttered "dobe".

'Damn it!'

He heard Neji gasp as he pushed himself to stand on his shaky legs. Slowly he rose until he was bent over slightly, clutching his side. He smiled cheekily at Neji. "I told you, I wont give up."

"Quit already!" Neji said. "Continuing wont change anything. I have no grudge against you!"

"Yeah, well I do!" Naruto wheezed out.

Neji's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you mentally attack Hinata… who was trying so hard?"

Neji glared at the blonde. "That is none of your business."

"Insulting Hinata! Automatically deciding she's a loser!" Naruto yelled. "Main family… branch family… I don't know what the hell happened but…"

Every person in the crowd was silent.

"But pieces of shit like you who call other people losers, I will never forgive!" Naruto's eyes flashed and Neji saw a fire of determination burning in them.

XOXOX---

Up in the Kage's box, Sarutobi smiled faintly at the blonde's words.

XOXOX---

Neji closed his eyes and the smirk reappeared on his face. "Fine, if you're willing to go that far. I'll tell you… the Hyuga's destiny of hatred!"

Neji reached up to untie his headband and revealed the caged bird seal. He began to explain to Naruto about the divide between the main family and branch family. About the cloud incident, about his father, and about his curse.

"To escape this horrible curse… the only way is death. Destiny decided where my father and uncle would end up, just as your destiny was decided the moment I became your opponent! You will lose to me!"

Naruto growled slightly. "We wont know that until it's over!"

Neji closed his eyes and slowly re-tied his hitai-ate. Suddenly he rushed forward and slammed his palm into Naruto's chest. Naruto fell to the ground a few feet away.

"It's over," he said.

He turned around and began to walk away.

"Don't run away," Naruto's tired voice carried throughout the arena. "I won't run!"

Neji laughed. "I've heard that before."

This time Naruto laughed. "There's no way I'll lose to a coward that's always whining about destiny!"

Neji's eyes widened in anger and he pointed an accusing hand at Naruto. "You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!"

Silence.

Naruto clenched his teeth as he remembered all of the pain he'd suffered because of the Kyuubi…

When he opened his eyes they shown with an understanding that shocked Neji. "Yeah, I do."

Neji bit back a sudden retort.

"And so what?" Naruto's eyes seemed to mock him. Neji's glare returned full force. "Pft… stop acting so cool. You're not that special. Hinata's also suffered as much as you! A member of the main family… but not acknowledged, trying her best to change herself… she was thinking that while she was coughing up blood facing you! You're the same! The branch family is supposed to protect the main family, but in doing that to Hinata… you're trying you're hardest to change destiny!"

Neji face lit up with recognition at the truth in Naruto's words, though only for a brief second.

"Your points are close. How can you fight when you can't use chakra? In the end you and Hinata share the same destiny!"

"SHUT UP!" Naruto roared. "Stop using that Byakugan to act like you know everyone's destiny!"

"Then prove to me what you are saying is correct," Neji said coolly.

"Yeah! That's exactly what I'm going to do!" Naruto closed his eyes. _'Come on stupid fox! It's time to pay rent!'_

Naruto pressed his hands together and concentrated.

"It's useless, your points have been pressed," Neji sneered at the idiot before him. "Can I ask you one thing?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you go against your destiny so much?" Neji asked.

Naruto looked at him, his eyes showing a weary determination. "Because… I was called a loser."

Neji jerked back in surprise as a crimson chakra erupted from Naruto's body, re-opening his points and completely filling his coils in a matter of seconds! The red chakra made an image of nine thrashing tails that coiled around Naruto, who glared at Neji.

"Here I come!" and the blonde disappeared…

Neji's Byakugan saw him re-appear behind him tossing a few shuriken at his exposed back. Quickly, Neji began to rotate, deflecting a few of the projectiles whilst grabbing others from the barrage.

Naruto raced along the outer wall of the arena and his speed increased, causing him to barely dodge the shuriken.

XOXOX---

Sasuke stared down at Naruto in utter shock and amazement. Seeing his teammate pulling out a power like this… it was unreal! His hands began to close around the railing as he shook with excitement.

He really, _really_ wanted to fight Naruto.

XOXOX---

'_His speed has increased… what's going on?' _Neji thought as he pulled a kunai out of his pouch just as he saw the blonde doing the same. Quickly he threw the knife towards Naruto. He barely registered that the two weapons collided when he and Naruto blurred past each other, each grabbing a kunai before it could hit the ground.

"Hey, you're confident in close combat, right?" Naruto asked as he and Neji once against stood across from each other. The red chakra around Naruto flared and he charge towards Neji, his speed making a long trench in the ground. "I don't know much about the Hyuga Destiny of Hatred, but if it's too much for you then you don't have to do anything anyore!"

Neji's eyes widened when Naruto came too close. _'Kaiten… shit!' _He raised his kunai just as he began to spin and it clang against Naruto's own kunai. The two forces of power began to fight for dominance as Naruto continued his shouting.

"When I become the Hokage," Naruto yelled with absolute determination in his eyes. "I'll change the Hyuga!"

BOOM!

The two chakra's exploded, lifting up dirt and dust from the ground around the two genin. Two figures shot from the dust cloud on either side, both landing and creating smaller dust clouds.

But who was who?

The dust cleared around both areas and Neji was seen climbing out of a small crater. Slowly he limped over towards the other crater where Naruto lay unconscious.

"Loser. Sorry but this is the reality," he said.

CRACK!

Neji looked down as the ground in front of him split open and Uzumaki Naruto shot out, his fist colliding straight into Neji's jaw. The Hyuga landed a few feet away on his back, unable to move and the shadow clone in the crater disappeared.

Genma smirked.

Neji swore as Naruto walked up to him. "To quickly use a shadow clone like that… how could I forget?"

Naruto looked down at Neji sadly before speaking. "I… I failed the graduation exam three times. Because the ninjutsu on the final exam was always my weakest ninjutsu."

Everyone looked on as Naruto spoke, confusion on evident on many faces.

"The clone jutsu," Naruto frowned. "Was my weakest jutsu."

Neji gasped slightly.

"Destiny can't be changed, blah, blah. Stop whining about stupid crap like that, since you're not a loser like me."

Genma smiled. "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto looked around the stadium as people began to cheer and clap for him. Slowly a smile split his face and he began to laugh and soak up all the praise.

XOXOX---

"What!? He won?" Shikamaru looked down at Naruto in utter shock.

Sasuke chuckled. "I'd hate to say I told you so but…"

"Troublesome…"

XOXOX---

Genma walked over to Neji as he motioned for the medics.

The jounin sighed, "Even a captured bird, if it's clever enough, will try to open the cage with its beak… never giving up its desire to fly freely in the sky."

The medics kneeled next to Neji and a green glow covered their hands.

"This time you have lost," Genma said. Neji remained silent. He turned to the crowd. "Those participating in the next match, get down here."

The crowd cheered as the next two genin took to the arena floor.

"The second match: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Kinuta Dosu! HAJIME!"

XOXOX---

Chapter End!

Authors Notes: I'd make the chapter longer but I can end it here without any difficulties and I don't want laziness to grab me for another month. Read and review. See you next time!


	8. Chapter 7: Everything You Fear

Authors Note: About the lateness of this chapter: no comment. I got one interesting review about how sooner or later the genin will realized they are just pawns to Aizen's plan. Aizen also realized that the genin would figure it out so he used his shikai's ability on the genin. But don't worry, they wont be helpless pawns to Aizen's plans.

XOXOX---

Chapter 7: Everything You Fear

XOXOX---

Aizen looked down at Sasuke as he entered the arena. He was eager to see the Uchiha fight, to see what he was capable of without Aizen's guide. Then something caught his eye.

Naruto was walking towards the entrance to the balcony and from Aizen's point of view the Shinigami had a perfect view of the blondes back. More specifically the back of Naruto's neck.

On the back of Naruto Uzumaki's neck was a small black skull with horns. Without having any proof Aizen knew instantly what it was. Uzumaki Naruto had been marked by the Shinigami of the Shinobi world.

After the tournament he would need to be eliminated before whatever powers the boy would posses could manifest themselves.

XOXOX---

"_The second match: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Kinuta Dosu! HAJIME!"_

No words needed to be spoken. No taunts were made. Nothing.

Both genin knew that talk would be only a waste of breath in this fight.

Sasuke kept Denkiryu strapped in its scabbard as he leapt away from Dosu. In kind Dosu was raising his melody arm and struck it just as Sasuke hit the ground. The Uchiha disappeared just as the sound waves neared him.

Dosu's eyes narrowed as the Uchiha reappeared, looking completely unharmed. That shouldn't be possible. Quickly Dosu hit his melody arm again, in the direction of the Uchiha. Once again the damned genin disappeared and reappeared unharmed. After a third time the sound genin changed tactics. He wasn't as good of a close range fighter as his opponent but no one could survive if the melody arm was struck on contact with them. The sound vibrations would tear their body apart.

Swiftly the genin pulled out a few shuriken and threw them at the Uchiha.

Sasuke activated his sharingan and ducked under the shuriken. When he came back up he found the melody arm aiming for his stomach. His eyes widened as the melody arm was jammed into his stomach and a loud ringing filled the air. Everyone was silent for a second.

Suddenly the ground under Sasuke exploded. When the dust cleared Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Dosu would have considered it a victory if not for one thing missing. Blood.

Sasuke leaned against a tree attempting to clam his bodies spasms. He had absorbed the sound waves with chakra and made them flow around his body and down by his feet. As soon as the sound had come in contact with the ground… the result was explosive enough to literally launch Sasuke away from Dosu. Though the defensive move had been complete luck and Sasuke still suffered from damage from the attack. He just needed to get himself back under control.

Dosu looked at the small grove of trees carefully. It was the only placed Sasuke could be hiding. He sprinted towards the trees and once he was close enough he hit his melody arm. The sound waves shook the trees violently and Dosu nodded in satisfaction when Sasuke stumbled away from one of them, still twitching.

"Got you!" Dosu yelled and whipped a kunai from his pouch towards Sasuke.

The Uchiha stopped twitching.

And disappeared.

Dosu looked around wildly for any sign of Sasuke when he felt an increase in chakra. The sound genin turned around and looked at the far wall of the arena. Uchiha Sasuke sat, clinging to the wall with chakra, running through a string of hand seals. Dosu could _see_ the chakra that formed around the Uchiha's hand.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

The sound of the lightning attack filled the arena and Uchiha Sasuke let go of the chakra holding him to the wall. A line of Sasuke's attack tearing through the wall then the dirt was all the warning Dosu had.

As fast as he could, he swung the melody arm in front of him and struck it once. Twice. Three times. A four time. A fifth time.

Sasuke's sharingan spun as he held the Chidori in front of him, the chakra cutting into the sound wave.

Dosu's eye widened, no matter how strong that jutsu was, something should have happened! In a panic the sound genin attempted to dodge, but he was too late.

With a scream of "CHIDORI!" the Uchiha drove the lightning attack straight into Dosu's melody arm.

The superheated metal of the melody arm became a molten liquid. Dosu's screams of pain drowned out the sound of the Chidori.

Finally, after moments of agony, Sasuke ended the jutsu and Dosu slumped to the ground, whimpering.

Sasuke stepped away from Dosu.

"You… bastard!" Dosu screamed. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" the sound genin shot to his feet, a kunai in hand. With another scream he lunged at Sasuke, his eyes seeing nothing but red.

Sasuke's hands shot forward and Dosu felt a spike of… something. "Bakudo: Sai!"

Dosu's one arm as suddenly flung behind his back and his legs stopped moving, momentum causing him to fall to the ground. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" Dosu glared at Sasuke, who was just calmly walking towards him. "DON'T IGNORE ME YOU BASTARD!"

With a quick motion Sasuke's hand chopped the back of Dosu's head, knocking the sound genin unconscious.

Genma nodded in appreciation at the match. "Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!"

XOXOX---

As the crowd roared, Aizen nodded in satisfaction. "Very well done, Uchiha Sasuke."

XOXOX---

Seeing the crowd erupting into cheers Sasuke reached up and pulled something out of both of his ears. He winced slightly at the rush of sound.

"Earplugs?" Genma looked stupefied before chuckling. "That was pretty tricky kid. Pretty tricky."

Sasuke nodded. "Thanks."

Genma turned back to the screaming crowd. "The next participants get down here!"

XOXOX---

Up in the balcony, Rock Lee glanced at Gaara. The sand genin looked absolutely murderous, his expression full of bloodlust. Without glancing at Lee, Gaara was consumed by sand. His form reappeared down in the arena.

"Hey, bushy-brows," Naruto was still looking down at Sasuke who was just exiting the arena. "Kick that guys ass."

Lee nodded and leapt off the railing.

XOXOX---

Insane.

That's what everyone thought of Gaara by the end of the match.

If Genma and Gai hadn't stepped in Lee's legs would likely be dust by now.

"Guys," Shikamaru muttered, his eyes still wide as he looked down at the arena. Craters littered the area. "One of you is next to fight him."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto glared at Shikamaru. "Once you beat that sand girl –"

"_If_ I beat the sand girl, I'll forfeit. I'm pretty sure you two are the only ones stupid enough to take him on," he nodded towards Sasuke.

"Jackass."

Sasuke merely grunted. "Isn't it your turn?"

Shikamaru glanced down at the arena to see Temari gliding down, searching for a flat spot to land. "Nope. I'm going to forfe-."

"Get down there!" Naruto shouted and slapped Shikamaru on the back. In a comical way Shikamaru fumbled to grab hold of the railing as he was forced over it. He sighed in relief as one hand held on to the railing with his body suspended on the wall. "You are a lazy bastard," Naruto muttered and grabbed Shikamaru's hand.

"Naruto! What," was all Shikamaru got to say before Naruto unclenched the lazy boys fingers from around the railing and let go.

With a dull thud Shikamaru landed on his back staring up at the clouds.

"Hey! Lazy ass!" Temari scowled as she yelled. "Get over here and fight!"

Shikamaru groaned as he sat up, glancing at Temari. "Troublesome blondes."

A vein appeared over Temari's eye. "You're dead!"

Using her fan as a club she charged towards Shikamaru. When the dust cleared Shikamaru was standing a few feet above Temari's head, suspended by two kunai.

"Ya know," he spoke lazily, as if he had just woken from a nap. "I don't care much about making Chuunin. "But I'm not going to lose to a girl!"

A smirk appeared on Temari's face and her fan opened, the wind picking up drastically.

Genma's shout of "HAJIME!" was nearly lost among the cheer of the crowd.

XOXOX---

"I'm going to kill him."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"He had her! And he just forfeits!" Naruto growled and placed his hands on the railing. Without a word to anyone he leapt over. Once on the ground he walked over towards Shikamaru. "Idiot!"

"Shut up!" Shikamaru shot back, retrieving his shirt and headband.

"You had her!" Naruto shouted.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Too much effort, and besides I don't have anything left for another fight."

"Lazy bastard."

"Just go watch the next match," Shikamaru started to walk towards the stairs leading to the balcony.

Genma shook his head. "The next match -!"

"I quit!" Kankuro shouted from the stands.

Genma paused before nodding in acceptance. "Very well. Then we will start the second round."

XOXOX---

Up in the stands Sakura sat in her seat, rigid. "That means…"

XOXOX---

"Since Naruto is already down here, Sasuke! Move it!" Genma yelled.

Naruto had also frozen in his spot. Slowly his head turned up towards the balcony where Sasuke stood.

Shikamaru sighed as he entered the shade of the stairs. "This will be troublesome."

Wordlessly Sasuke leapt over the railing and landed in a crouch. Calmly he walked up to Genma and he and Naruto stood across from each other.

"The first match of the second round will be between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto!" Genma raised his hand. "HAJIME!"

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

"Sharigan!"

Before the two genin could do much more than that an explosion erupted from the direction of the Kage's box.

XOXOX---

Aizen narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He was looking forward to that fight. "Oh well, another day."

His calm eyes swept the arena as sound and sand shinobi alike came to life and began the assault on the leaf shinobi. He pressed a hand to the shinobi style communicator on his neck. It connected to all of his subordinates around the arena.

"Follow your charges and keep them safe. Do not interfere unless you must."

A chorus of "Hai!" came back.

He sat back into his seat and watched the next act.

A few moments later a large purple box surrounded the top of what was the Kage's box. Interests raised he slipped out of his gigai, allowing it to be lost among the battle, and used a quick shunpo to arrive next to the box.

Inside he observed the aged Hokage fighting one that Aizen recognized as the snake Sannin, Orochimaru.

He became very interested when he watched Orochimaru bring back the souls of the dead, and control them no less!

Then…

Then Aizen saw the Hokage perform a jutsu that he had seen once before.

The air became foul; the pressure became nearly overpowering for Aizen. He could only guess the state his subordinates were in.

And it _appeared_.

Its appearance was so much like a hollow, but Aizen could tell… it was nothing he'd ever felt before.

It floated behind the old Hokage, using the man as a medium to grab Orochimaru's soul.

"**Sosuke Aizen."**

Aizen slowly turned his head to face it. "What are you?"

The smile that crept onto its face chilled Aizen to the bone. **"I am everything you fear. I know everything about you Aizen. Your little holding in Heuce Mundo, your plan with those genin. That plan almost caught me off guard. But you picked a bad egg. Uzumaki Naruto was already mine. He and his power will be mine. He is my warrior!"**

With a flash of his blade he severed Orochimaru's soul arms.

"**And one-by-one, he will destroy your pawns."**

XOXOX---

Chapter End!

Authors Note: I was going to go into the Naruto vs. Sasuke fight a bit but decided against it because then they'd be too tired for what I have planned.

Anyway, I've got a little poll up on my profile page about what story I should do after I finish _The Eldest Sister_. Check it out.


	9. Author's Note

Tuesday, January 19, 2010:

Dear all readers.

Sorry, not a chapter.

**I AM NOT ABANDONING MY TWO FICTIONS!!!!!!!!!**

I have no excuse for why I didn't update from September to November. But in November I decided to take a new strategy to writing these fictions! I decided to make chapter-by-chapter outlines so I could keep the stories on track. So far the outline for _Eldest Sister_ is far enough along that I can safely start writing the next three or four chapters. Which I will get started on within the next few days. (Provided my C in French doesn't get me grounded…).

I have not yet started the outline for _The Experiment_ but I will start that tonight. I should be safe to write the next few chapters for this, heck all the way up until the time skip and a bit after I should be fine. But the how the ending turns out all depends on what the next couple of Bleach chapter's reveal. Seeing as Aizen will be a big factor later on, I'll need to know some things about him. But I am planning to do a sequel to _The Experiment_, but whether or not that will be a separate fiction will be decided much later on.

As for the Naruto and Sekirei cross over, I'll work on that after I have completely finished the Eldest Sister, and after I finish most of _the Experiment_.

I'll upload another author's note in a week or so to let you know how far I am progressing. If I don't then feel free to assume I'm grounded and will be away for an undefined amount of time. But either way, I'll be working on the outlines (because I hand write them).

From,

Your favorite not-so-dead author, _Saphshade_!

P.S. Don't review this author's note, or the next one. Private Message me for any comments or questions.

P.P.S. Sorry for being so lazy. I'm currently attempting to kick its ass, but it's like a cold… it keeps coming back.


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